Secondary mark wording

[Paul W. Frields]

On Thu, 2008-09-25 at 10:45 -0600, Clint Savage wrote:
> 2008/9/25 Paul W. Frields <stickster at gmail.com>:
> > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Pfrields/Secondary_trademark_design
> >
> > Hi Marketeers, it's (past?) time we discussed the wording for a
> > secondary wordmark.  Having a secondary wordmark, a community-usable
> > mark for derivative spins, will help drive more interest in Fedora.  It
> > enables a slew of use cases, some of which I've outlined in a draft of
> > new trademark guidelines here, which are under review by Red Hat's legal
> > department:
> > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Pfrields/New_trademark_guidelines
> >
> > I made a couple drafts using one of the proposed word marks, "Fueled by
> > Fedora," which got a lot of positive response when I floated it around
> > to different community members.  Another great suggestion is "Fedora
> > Remix."
> >
> > We will *not* use something tired like "Based on Fedora," nor awkward or
> > jargon-laden, like "Derived from Fedora" or "Contains Fedora RPMs."  If
> > anyone's got a great suggestion, I'll take it under advisement and a
> > good design will have some weight too.  So far the two phrases I
> > suggested above are the only ones that have had significant flash value
> > to me and the other people who've heard them.
> >
> > The actual text of the mark will ultimately come down to three deciding
> > bodies:  the Fedora Board, Red Hat Legal, and the FPL (me).
> >
> > The pros and cons of each of these phrases:
> >
> > "Fueled by Fedora":
> > + Alliteration, which we love.
> > + I like the idea that the community is an eco-friendly, renewable, and
> > healthy resource
> > - May not translate well
> > - Maybe fueling something is not a clear indication of how Fedora
> > relates to X.
> >
> > "Fedora Remix":
> > + Relies on the "remix" idea that we firmly established in F7
> > + Pushes our tools -- we can establish remix.fp.o, for example
> > ? May not translate, but many cultures may simply use the word "remix"
> > and therefore a single wordmark serves everyone equally
> > - Might be jargon, and therefore doesn't promote a community feeling --
> > leaves out people who aren't "in the know"
> 
> While I really like 'Fedora Remix', may I suggest 'Powered by Fedora'?
>  I know it's a bit cliche, but would go a long way to being able to
> have a good market 'Powered by' Fedora.

Actually, I just got off a very long call with Red Hat Legal, and as it
turns out, they *much* prefer "Fedora Remix."  We've used the Remix term
extensively from the time of Fedora 7 release -- several films from RH
have used it, and it also ties in well with the larger Creative Commons
and "remix culture."  Plus, from a trademark perspective, it makes it
much clearer that what the user is holding is not our official
distribution but a recombination possibly with other content.

"Re-spin" has two things wrong with it in my mind -- (1) It tends to be
jargon, since most people don't know what spin means in this context.
Remix may not be 100% grandma-friendly but there are more contextual
cues, and it's a much better known term.  (2) A healthy proportion of
the remixed offerings will be in forms OTHER than an ISO or Live image,
so the "spin" label breaks down there.

Legal does *not* lean toware wording like "Powered by Fedora," because
that makes the incorrect implication that what the user has is purely
Fedora, not a recombination with possibly other non-Fedora content.

I didn't know that call would happen today, so in retrospect it turns
out my message was just a teensy bit premature.  Apologies for that.
But that is no reason people can't continue to make suggestions.  Keep
the above in mind as you're thinking about it, and that you now have to
beat "Fedora Remix." :-)

-- 
Paul W. Frields
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
  http://paul.frields.org/   -  -   http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/
  irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug
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